Concrete Ninja
by TechnoGirl317
Summary: Loosely based off of the song Concrete Angel, but not much of a song-fic. The Turtles meet an abused 11-year-old girl named Lilliana, who happens to be friends with April. This basically chronicles their adventures. Rated for child abuse. No pairings, set in 2012 TMNT universe.
1. Chapter 1

** Ugh. *hits head against nearest surface without knowing what it is* *looks up and coughs into elbow crook* Oh, that was the couch arm...**

** Sorry guys, feeling cruddy again. Cold most likely mixed with allergies. Plus testing at school (includes pacer). Always a good time.**

** Wow, I've lost track of how many times in a row I've listened to Concrete Angel. (Don't own.) Also, the title's sort of a play on that, as is the story. Again, a **_**play on, **_**not completely matching up. You'll (hopefully) get it later.**

** Anyway, yes, I should be working on my other stories. If you've read my HP ones, well, I may or may not be hoping for a few reviews first. ;) And any fan of 52 Questions will still have to wait awhile. Slow progress on it.**

**This idea was pretty random, and actually came to me when I was combining two of my nicknames (Ze Ninja and Mousey). Shows why a lot later in the story, but it might be a bit subtle do I'll try to remember to point it out. **

**Oh, and would you believe I have a spinoff oneshot (x-over with PJatO) for this already? My writing method is helpful in that manner. =D**

**This may start a little slow and detached. I had a good idea for part of it in the school hallway but didn't have time to write it down before I forgot. So I stuck to my original plan and just continued... I like how it's going. Part of it's a little random, but for some reason I wanted to do it, so I did.**

**Also, a good deal of this was written on my phone, and stupid autocorrect doesn't work. Sorry!**

**So, yeah. Anyway, this is in the 2012 Nick cartoon, just to avoid confusion.**

** Sheesh, long A/N. Whoops.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any version of TMNT. Shell, I don't own TMNT merchandise of any sort! :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Donnie's POV**

I needed air.

Yes, strange, I know. The patient, slow-to-anger, calm inventor of the group needed to get out of the lair before I exploded. In my defense, Raph and Leo were fighting, Mikey was yapping in my ear and blasting music out of the T-Pod, as well as mixing together another pizza milkshake (blech) and besides, _someone_ needed to patrol. Not to mention I needed a few parts for my latest invention.

So I left for a bit, expecting to just run off a little steam, maybe stop at Murakami's. **(A/N sorry for spelling! I was guessing!) **

Well, that's not _exactly _what happened.

After running for a bit, I caught sight of a form silently and swiftly running down the sidewalk. It was a human, obviously, but I couldn't tell much more than that besides that they were clad in black and fairly short.

I squinted, trying to make out any details on the form. As they ran into a the light of a streetlamp, they stopped, and I got a better look. They were wearing black sweats and a black hoodie, the hood pulled over their eyes so only the lower half of their face showed. That wasn't enough to discern even the gender.**(A/N and here's the slightly random part!) **The cheeks had a slight blush on them, their lips were pink and smooth and the slightly-pale skin was mostly clear but for a cut on their chin, still bleeding a little. There was no hair visible, and the baggy clothing didn't help me see the frame of the figure. their shoes were white, but dirty, painted and doodled on, though I could see the light pink Nike sign.

Basically, besides the girlish features of their face (that I could see), the swift, graceful movements, and the girls' shoes, the rest of the figure screamed, "boy!"

And despite all the black and the fact their face was covered in a way most people judge as "shady," I had a feeling I had nothing to fear.

Suddenly they moved out of the light a bit, laid down on the sidewalk, put their feet flat on the ground so it's knees were up, put their hands behind their head, and looked at the sky. If there were any stars, I'd say they were stargazing.

I crept a little closer, curiosity finally getting the best of me, confident the darkness would conceal me enough, and was about to hide in a nearby alley to get a closer look when they spoke up.

"Jeez, took ya long enough." they said. After hearing the voice I realized that the figure was a girl. Then I registered what she'd said.

_Whaa...?_

"I thought you were gonna let me run this time, April."

_She knows April? Is it the same one? Wait, how'd she even know someone was around? Was I _that _obvious? _Now I was really confused.

"Erm, I'm not April." I said rather awkwardly. "Do you mean April O'Neil by any chance?"

"Yes, actually. Who are you if not April? No one else ever follows." She wondered aloud, whispering the last two sentences a little hesitantly.

Quickly, she sat up. Catching sight of me, she yelped and shot up, her hood bouncing up enough for me to catch a short glimpse of light grey eyes, and I braced myself, ready to run.

What she said, I didn't expect.

"Holy shell! Give me a heart attack next time will you?!" Oddly enough, there was a slight accent- almost southern but not quite, more unique- as she yelled.

I jumped, but in spite of the situation, chuckled. I had to remember that one.

She relaxed after I chuckled and joined in softly. "Erm, sorry 'bout that. Did _not _expect to look up and... well, I think you get the gist."

"That's ok. Sorry I startled you." I said. She smiled and flipped her hood off, revealing super dark black hair- that was really at that shade where people argue whether it's really dark blue or black- falling to around her mid-back and bangs almost down to her eyes. I gasped slightly as I saw her eyes better. They were... well, in a word, startling. They were light grey, making the black-blue ring around the iris- present in everyone's eyes- a lot more prominent. Then there was the fact that black spikes protruded like spokes around the pupil.

She chuckled again, seeing my reaction. "I suppose I should be used to that."

I mentally shook myself. "Who are you? What are you doing out here?" I asked.

"Ummmm... Well... Can we not talk here? Sorry, no reason really, just a little uneasy and besides, a giant talking turtle really shouldn't be in plain sight of apartment windows unless they have a death wish." She said, indicating with her hands that we were in the streetlight of a street bordered in apartments.

"Oh! Sure! Any place in mind?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, April's house. Easy. But we have to get to the window. I have a way up; I go there unannounced pretty often."

"Let's go then." We started walking, me keeping to the shadows.

Suddenly she piped up, sounding almost nervous. "Hey, what's your name anyway?"

"Donatello, but basically everyone calls me Donnie. Occasionally Don."

"Oh. Well, nice to meet you Donnie. Nice mask by the way."

I fingered the tails and smiled at her. "Thanks."

She smiled back, chuckling a little. Again. **(A/N She seems to be doing that a lot.)** "How did that happen?" She asked, pointing at her two front teeth and indicating the gap between mine.

I think I blushed a little. "I, well, might've blown up a chemical mix when I was younger because my little brother startled me and I ended up hitting a wall."

"Oh." She chuckled a bit more. "What's your brother's name?"

"Mikey. Well, the one I'm talking about. I also have two older brothers, Leo and Raph."

"Huh, four brothers in one place. Bet it never gets dull where you live."

She looked away and, after a few seconds of silence, asked, "Do you have any parents?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, a dad, and he also happens to be our sensei. We started calling him Splinter when we were little."

"Neato." She replied. "Is he a giant turtle too?"

"Try giant rat."

"Huh. Cool." She said, and I smiled. "How?"

"How what?"

She simply gestured at me. "Oh! Alien chemical ooze that mutated us when we were little and Splinter from a human to a rat."

"Aliens, huh. Would they possibly be robot-like human-shaped things with a brain-like thing in them?"

I jerked my head up to her. "Yeah, why?"

"Because I think we're being followed." She stopped, tensed, and pulled her hood back up, shifting her eyes and cocking her head.

She turned back to me, slight fear in her eyes. "I don't think they've noticed us yet, but running may be a terrific idea right now."

And with that, she shot off, still silent despite her speed. I hadn't noticed 'till then she had a slight limp.

I ran after her, trying not to lose her in the shadows.

I had, though, and slowed a bit. Suddenly, small but strong hands closed around my arm from the side and another hand covered my mouth, pulling me into a alley.

I struggled before looking down. It was just the girl.

Making the "shhh!" gesture, she pointed up to a rickety fire escape, swung up to the first landing, and started climbing, stopping at a top window.

When I met her up there, she smiled, nodded, and tapped.

Not long after, April's face appeared and she opened the window.

"Lilliana? What happened?" She asked before catching sight of me. "Donnie! Why are you here- and with Lily?"

Lilliana, as I now knew was the girls name, smiled. "Partially the usual, and something a little odd. I kind of told Donnie I'd explain here. Bad feeling we were being watched."

"Ah." April looked a little sad at the first part, but climbed out to join us, shivering a little. Lilliana took off her hoodie and gave it to April, revealing a loose dark purple T-shirt- practically matching my mask- and long, pale arms with a few- still fresh- cuts on them.

April frowned at the cuts but put on the hoodie.

Lily smiled slightly and turned to me. "Anyway, Donnie, I'm sure you've gathered my name by now, and the fact that I'm April's friend. But before I continue, let's just say you can call me Lilliana, Lilliana Hope, Lily, Ninja, Mousey, LH, Hope-" She broke off and muttered a few words under her breath, the last few darkly, that I didn't catch, to which April patted her shoulder, looking very much like she wanted to hug her friend. "-I respond to all of them."

I decided to ask about the Ninja and Mousey thing later.

Lilliana's eyes cast around a bit, as though looking for a distraction, but quickly sighed and rubbed one of her cuts. I eyed it and made a mental note to clean it later. "That basically covers your first question from earlier. As to why I'm out here, well... That's a bit more- complex, for lack of a better word.

"You've probably noticed my hair color by now- positively raven, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, that and my eyes catch peoples attention first, but in sunlight, my hair shifts between black, purple, and blue, like raven feathers. My parents are really superstitious, and that includes believing ravens are bad omens." She rolled her eyes and continued. "Since my hair is so raven-feather-like, my eyes creep them out, to say the least, and I tend to be able to sneak around without detection, one of the list of things I call my 'ninja qualities,' they somehow think I'm a walking curse or something. So, they figure that by beating 'bad luck,' they can keep it under control. Even if the 'personification of ill omens' is their own 11-year-old daughter."

Then she whispered something I barely caught. "Thank God they don't know about my sixth sense."

April really did hug her this time, wrapping her arms tightly around the thin girl as she bit her lip slightly, a slightly bitter look on her face, still rubbing at her cut.

I was shocked, to say the least. So much I didn't even register her last sentence. I'd heard of child abuse before, but never really let it sink in that it actually happened. I never had reason to. After all, my brothers and I were never abused (unless you counted training which, considering our situation, we didn't), April most certainly wasn't (if she was and I found out, they'd better run), and everyone else we knew wasn't.

So when I met a living, breathing human who had actually gone through it- by _both_ parents, no less- I was stunned. Stunned, appalled, angry, pitying, etc.

I decided to attempt to play it safe with my next question. "Why haven't you told the cops?"

She sniffed; whether in sadness or contempt, I couldn't tell. "Did. They didn't believe me. My parents have a pretty good reputation, not to mention they've told a good amount of people in this area I'm a huge troublemaker, rebel, cusser, goth, etc. And many seem to believe it just because I tend to wear hoodies and black a lot."

"Well, do you have a sibling or cousin or somone you could talk to?" I asked.

She flipped her thumb at April, who had let go but still kept her arm on Lilliana's shoulder. "Close as I'm gonna get."

"Counselor?"

"What'd I just say about the rumors? I set a foot in there and they try to reverse my nonexistent 'bad girl' streak. And to think, counselors are supposed to _listen _to you."

Any other time, any other situation, that would've provoked a slight chuckle out of me, and probably April to.

"So, what're you gonna do this time? You can't go back, not after what happened last time. And, well, it'd make it worse for you if my aunt **(A/N ?) **caught you in here." April mentioned, gesturing behind her.

Lilliana shrugged. "Don't know. Sneaking in is a small possibility, but not a very good one. I can't very well sleep out here, and there's no closet in your room to hide in. Even if there were, I would rather not." She shuddered.

A thought occurred to me and it just blurted out of my mouth. "She could stay at the lair."

Lilliana's eyes sparkled, and April's was a slightly confusing mix of caution, relief, and gratitude.

"Really?" She asked.

I nodded. "Hopefully."

April looked a little skeptical. "Won't the others kind of... Freak out? Remember when Mikey made a new 'friend?' I doubt they'll forget about that."

Nodding slowly, I replied. "Yeah, but after I explain what happened they probably won't mind. Besides, I can blindfold her just to reassure them."

Lilliana grinned and hugged me. Man, that girl is strong!

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

I ruffled her hair. "Come on, let's go. The others will be wondering where I am."

She nodded and untangled herself from me. April handed her her hoodie and climbed back through the window.

"See you guys!"

"Bye!" The two of us replied in unison as Lilliana pulled on her hoodie, face popping out seconds later with a goofy smile on her face.

We climbed down the fire escape silently and I led her to the nearest manhole cover. "You guys live in the sewer?" I expected her to make a "yuck" face but she continued with, "Right under our feet, literally, and we didn't notice?"

"Yeah, there's really no where else."

"Huh."

We went down and Lilliana's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "You know, I've always wanted to go down here. I could never lift the manhole covers." She laughed quietly, and I joined.

"Why didn't you run?" I asked suddenly.

Her head cocked. "What?"

"Why didn't you run when you saw me?"

She stopped dead and looked right into my eyes- well, my left one, at least-, light-grey-and-black into reddish brown. "I don't know. I guess I was just so preoccupied that my sixth sense didn't work completely right and all I felt was a kind presence, and I assumed it was April. It normally is. And then, well, I didn't feel any malice from you, just curiosity, kindness and something rather akin to fear when I saw you."

"You have sixth sense?"

"Yep. I said so earlier, but I guess I shouldn't have said it right after I mentioned being abused if I wanted you to process it."

"Yeah, probably not."

When we got close to the lair, I knelt down to her height, which was a good 5-6 inches shorter than April (jeez, being super tall gets irritating sometimes!), and whispered, "Ok, sorry about this, but I wasn't kidding when I mentioned blindfolding you. Splinter can get a little paranoid when it comes to humans." She nodded, but looked a bit uneasy. I reached up to untie my mask, but she stopped me.

"Here, I've got it."

She plunged her hand into her pocket and fished out a long, thick strip of silky, dark grey. Noticing my question glace, she smiled and said, "I get rather fidgety. This gives me something to play around with."

"Ah. So like me and my inventions." I said absently.

Her eyes widened, and she grinned. "You invent? Sweetness! You have _got _to show me some stuff later!"

I pretty sure my grin stretched across my whole face. "Sounds good." I said, turning her around and tying the strip over her eyes. "That good? Not too tight?"

Lilliana shook her head, still looking a little uneasy, and flipped her hood back up. "It's good."

She stood up and started walking towards the lair, hands stuffed into her hoodie pocket. "Oh, right. Sixth sense." I muttered.

Nonetheless, sixth sense or no, she soon reared over to the wall of the sewer and started lightly running her fingertips along it, tracing a few pipes.

I watched for a bit. Then, "Why are you doing that?" I asked.

"Doing what?"

"Running your hand along the wall. It's obviously not to guide you, you're still walking as though you can see perfectly."

"Oh." She chuckled. "You see, for some reason touching seems to be almost like breathing to me, or at least my sense of sanity. Although that normally excludes human contact, if I don't know them very well or have a good reason to hate it."

"Oh." I stated lamely, feeling a bit like a copy-cat. We fell back into a comfortable silence.

As we got closer, me taking the lead, I started to hear Space Heroes on the TV. Leo, of course, was reciting the words. Lilliana cocked her head and smiled. "Star Trek is so much better, Captain Ryan could never beat Kirk, Spock and/or Bones." She said. I nodded.

Suddenly she stumbled, hitting my shell with a small "yeep!" I whirled around. "Are you ok?"

She straightened up, placing her fingertips back on the wall. "'M fine. My leg still hasn't healed completely and, to be honest, having my eyes covered like this can make me a little nervous, especially in unfamiliar environments."

"Ah. Well don't worry, we're almost there."

She nodded, her head turning back and forth as though instinctively trying to see. "Oh, and by the way, can we _not _tell your family about the abuse yet? Normally I don't come right out and tell, only me having practically promised you and having April nearby had me tell you. Maybe we can just say my parents accidentally got drunk and I left to be on the safe side?" Lilliana's tone was close to pleading, and I almost suspected that she had the puppy-eyes on under that mask.

I hesitated, but against my better judgement, the next thing out of my mouth was, "Sure."

"Gomapseumnida." She said.** (A/N. Sorry, learned it in tang soo doo today. And for the sake of this story, let's just say Donnie knows a little Korean. Anyway, it's a formal version of 'thank you' in Korean. Can be used on strangers {especially older}, teachers, people of higher rank, etc. Roughly pronounced koh-map-seub-ni-da.)**

I was slightly shocked. Not just that she knew Korean, but that she used such a formal and respectful version of "thank you." That's typically used on teachers or (usually older than speaker) strangers. Nevertheless, I answered back, in English though. "You're welcome. And you do realize that's a rather formal version of 'thank you' typically reserved for teachers and strangers?"  
"Really? Cool! It's the only version of it I know. What's the more informal way?" **(A/N May be inaccurate because I simply googled it.) **

"Gomawo. Or, if you're with a close friend or want to make it more polite, gomawoyo." **(A/N Pronounced koh-mae-wa, yo at the end usually omitted only between close friends or in polite situations.)**

Another smile. "In that case, gomawoyo, and in hope of the former reason, which in my opinion is already starting."

I smiled, touched that she basically considered me a close friend already. I thought her trust factor would be a bit more damaged, but it seemed like it only took a little friendship and caring to crack her open. "By the way, how'd you know that?"

A shrug. "Heard it and clung to it. I love learning new languages, even tiny little snippets or fictitious terms in a book, or simply make up my own, and like to use them when I can."

I just nodded and hummed slightly.

We rounded the corner and walked into the lair, where Leo was, as aforementioned, watching Space Heroes, Raph was _most certainly not _talking to Spike (denial!), Mikey was dancing to music from the T-Pod, and Master Splinter was probably meditating in his room.

I cleared my throat and my brothers looked at me, waved, then did a double-take at the blindfolded Lilliana, who started squirming uncomfortably, taking out another dark grey silk-like strip and fiddling with it, tying and untying it repeatedly and running it through her fingers.

"Guys, can you _please _stop staring? It's like you've never seen a human before, and I _know _you have. 'Cause last time I checked, April's a human."

She turned to me and asked, a bit more quietly, "And can I please take this bloody blindfold off? I _really _hate having my eyes covered."

"Oh! Sure, sorry."

I was about to untie it when she slid it off her head so fast I could barely see her do it, stuffing her other one in her pocket and untying the other in a flash.

She fixed her eyes on my brothers, who had crept close enough to see them, and they gasped.

Lilliana, on the other hand, smiled and turned to me, laughing a little. "Yeah, I can definitely see the resemblance." I had a feeling she was also referring to their reaction to her eyes.

Mikey grinned at her little show of easy humor. "Yeah, but I'm the good-looking one." He said, striking a ridiculous pose and putting on a goofy smile.

Lilliana burst out laughing. "Nice one, dude. And neat T-Pod!"

Mikey's baby blue eyes stared into her grey-and-black-spiked ones before he cracked a grin and ran up to hug her. "Can we keep her?" He asked.

She smiled sadly and muttered, "Trust me, I wouldn't stop you."

Then she laughed and looked at Mikey, wriggling her arms from their pinned position and hugging him back. "And what, may I ask, is this for?"

"I'll explain that later." I interrupted, laughing, but didn't pull Mikey away. Lilliana seemed to be enjoying it.

"Guys, this is Lilliana Hope, but she'll answer to that, Lilliana, or Lily. Your choice. Lilliana, this is Leo, Raph and, well, you've already met Mikey." I said, gesturing to each of my brothers in turn.

"What're those short for?" She asked, curiously.

"Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo."

"Oh, like the Renaissance artists."

Raph cleared his throat. "Oh, and that's Spike." I added, nodding towards Raph's pet.

Lilliana's eyes seemed light up a little more. "Cool! Ironic, but cool!" She said.

Raph gave her a small grin of approval- probably because she wasn't teasing him.

Mikey finally let go of Lilliana, but stayed close.

Than Leo spoke up in his "authority" voice. "And why is she here? You do realize Splinter will be furious about this, right?"

I opened my mouth, about to mention her abuse (forgetting I had promised not to) but Lilliana beat me to it. "Yeah, sorry about this guys. My parents were kind of- ok fine, really- drunk, so I left to be safe, ran into Donnie here, we continued on to April's house- odd coincidence we all know her, huh?- decided me staying there would be a bad idea, and then Donnie said I could hide out down here 'till things cooled down. I can always leave if you want, though. But I think it's safe for a bit, your master's asleep right now anyways."

I noticed how she left out the whole abuse thing. I wish she didn't, but she did.

After a slightly stunned silence, Leo broke it. "How do you know Master Splinter's asleep?"

Lilliana's eyes widened and she smacked herself in the forehead, muttering, "idiot, moron, idiot, moron," repeatedly, one word per hit.

She looked up and started squirming under our stares again. "Sorry. You see, I have sixth sense, and sometimes don't notice when I'm using it. I tend to avoid mentioning it in fear of scaring others away from me, if they aren't already from my tendency to wear black and quite a few nasty rumors going around about me."

Silence. Then Mikey, of course broke it. "That. Is. So. COOL!" He yelled, before there was a collective "Shhhhhh!" Mikey was a bit quieter when he said, "I didn't know you could just have a sixth sense without a reason!"

_Oh, there is one. _I thought. I swear Lilliana was thinking the same.

"So, when do you think it'll be safe to go home?" Raph questioned.

He was met with a shrug. "Hopefully by tomorrow morning."

I hid a sigh. We both knew it was longer than that.

"Anyway, if you wanna be really safe about your master catching me here, I could, I don't know, hang out a bit then hole up in a closet or something." Lilliana continued. I stared for a second and she mouthed to me, _I know, I'll explain later._

I nodded minutely.

Leo thought for a second. I knew the answer though; he wouldn't turn someone out to the streets if they needed help.

Especially not with Mikey's puppy eyes fixated on him.

"Alright, but _just _for tonight." Leo sighed as Mikey cheered, Lilliana did a fist-pump followed by a high-three with Mikey (she seriously did a Spock to make it look like she had three fingers!), and even Raph looked- slightly- pleased. Then Leo continued. "But if Splinter finds her, _you're _to blame, Donnie."

I nodded, and led Lilliana away to find a place for her to sleep.

"I thought you were claustrophobic?" I said- er, asked.

She shrugged. "I am, but it's mild. If I go in there willingly, and know it's not locked and I'm not held there against my will or blindfolded or something, I'm fine for quite a while. If the door is opened slightly, it's even better, and if I can fall asleep before I get too uncomfortable, I can last even longer."

"Ah."

"Oh, and why did Mikey hug me earlier?"

Chuckling, I answered. "Mikey's practically assigned himself as the 'official namer' of the family. New enemy, new invention, anything really, and he'll name it something and expect us to follow. He even got into a fuss when one of our opponents- the Rat King- named himself. He wouldn't shut up! But anyway, he had named the thing in his hand a T-Pod, and when you called it that without any info, I guess it just made him happy that he didn't have to explain it and you _still _used it, automatically at that.

"The only time with us was when he called our- for lack of a better word currently- car, the Shell-Raiser." I added thoughtfully.

"Huh. Assuming both were your inventions."

"Yep."

"Do you have phones?"

"Yep." I showed her mine.

She picked it up and examined it. "What'd you call them?"  
"Mikey decided to call them T-Phones."

"Really?" I nodded. "Huh. I'd call them shell-cells." She said, giving it back.

I cocked an eyebrow- um, ridge. "You know, I never thought of that. You should tell Mikey."  
A grin. Bet she didn't get complimented very often, indirectly or no. "I plan to."

By this time we had reached my room/lab and her eyes were still drinking in the sights in excitement.

I smiled and grabbed a spare pillow and blanket and walked over to the closet, flinging the door open.

**(A/N Don't know if there's a closet in Donnie's room, nor if it's also his lab, but in my world that's what it's like. So yeah.) **

Lilliana scrutinized the rather small- though luckily empty- space and smiled uneasily. "Yeah, definitely keeping the door cracked open." She said, half joking.

"Sorry 'bout this, but it's Leo we're talking about. Since he's our leader, he likes to make sure we're safe, and that _includes _keeping us safe from Splinter's punishments. That, and he knows he'll be caught in it too."

I handed her the purple blanket and spare pillow and she walked in, simply dumping them on the ground before turning back. "Just make sure nothing heavy goes in front of the door, or I may unintentionally freak out and you'll be needing a new one." She was still using that half-joking tone, but after being pulled into the alley by her, I had no doubt that could happen.

I told her as much. "I have no doubt I would." I said, adopting the same tone.

She chuckled and started to leave.

"Hey, get back here." She turned. "We should probably clean those cuts on your arm." I said, and she nodded. I patted the table next to me and she hopped up, taking off her hoodie as I gathered the needed materials.

"What exactly did your parents _use?_" I asked as I cleaned, expecting nothing short of a butter knife.

She thought for a second. "Safety scissors, a brick, and a hairbrush. I think."

I looked up. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope. Those were the closest materials and my parents are good at this."

I shook my head and diverted my gaze from her bitter look, bandaging up her arms.

When I was done, she put on her hoodie and left my room, and I followed after cleaning up, closing the closet door and moving a few things a good ways away from it just in case.

When I got out of my room, I didn't see Lilliana, and was a little surprised. Then I heard a giggle and looked up.

And jumped back.

"What are you _doing?!_" I exclaimed.

Lilliana was on the ceiling, her hands stretched out to the wall and her feet on the ledge above my door with seemingly no trouble.

"Waiting for you. You said you'd show me your inventions, and I sort of wanted a 'grand tour'. Plus I wanted to see your reaction to this." She giggled, letting go with her hands and swinging so only her feet were keeping her head off the ground, before going into a handstand, going into a backbend, and flipping up to her feet.

She brushed herself off like that was completely normal- which it would be if it was me, one of my brothers (especially Mikey), or even April- and looked amusedly up at me as I gaped.

"Come on, what first?" She asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

I shook myself. "Well, I could show you the shell-raiser."  
"Sure!"

I went around, showing her the dojo- which she loved, but called it a dojang- before the buggies and the shell-raiser and even Raph's bike, among other inventions. She was not only interested in _what _they did, but _how _they worked. She even knew enough science to contribute a bit to the conversation.

"And _what _grade science do you take?!" I asked after a while.

She sniffed. "Only 9th. That's honors for me, and I think to do higher would need parental permission."

"Then how do you-?"  
"Partially because I somehow just know it, partially because I'm a fast learner, partially that my uncle- who, oddly enough, was named Donnie- recognized how smart and interested I am in this and explained a bit to me while he worked when I was little- before he died- and partially because of this amazing thing called a _public library._"

She smiled sarcastically at me again- albeit a bit sadly at the mention of her uncle- and I grinned back.

"Yeah, that'd do it." I nodded. "Maybe sometime you can help with one of my projects."

Her wide eyes stared at me and she stated, a smile growing on her face as her volume rose from a whisper to a quiet shout, "That. Would. Be. Awesome!"

I swear, if I were looking away, I would've done a double-take. She sounded so much like Mikey, it was uncanny.

I smiled back. "Well, that's really it. I could show you some blueprints tonight or tomorrow, or maybe leave a box if them in that closet with a flashlight."

"Let's go with the last one."

"Sounds good. I'll do that real quick."

"Kk!"

So I did, and when I came down, Lilliana was playing video games with Mikey, laughing and whooping along with him and, when they apparently beat the level, gave him a high-three. She even moved her fingers in such a way that it looked like she had three fingers! **(A/N If you need a better description, I grew up with everyone calling it a Spock. Live long and prosper! ;) )**

I swear I heard her mention shell-cells before Mikey's face lit up and he hugged her again.

I chuckled and looked around. Raph was reading a comic book, and Leo was watching me, as though waiting for me to notice. When he saw I had, he twitched his head away from the others. The unspoken message was clear. _We need to talk._

I sighed and followed. Leo doesn't miss a thing!

When we were a long ways out of earshot from the others, Leo asked, in Japanese, "Ok, what's up with this?"

So maybe he misses the fine details occasionally.

I decided that using Japanese was a good idea in this situation, and continued it. "I've told you already. Lilliana didn't feel safe at home so-"

"Really, Donnie? I've seen the way she limps, the way she keeps rubbing at her arm, how she flinches slightly at loud noises. What's going on?"

I sighed. "Please don't tell Lily I told you this, because I more or less promised I wouldn't yet, but... She... Mayormaynotbeavictemofchildabuse." I finished quickly.

"Repeat that last part, please." Leo said, and I quailed slightly under his glare.

"She's a victim of child abuse. Her parents abuse her. I ran into her because she had escaped her house and was heading to April's, and when we got there she told me everything. Apparently she's abused because of her hair. Evidently, in sunlight her hair shifts between the black you've seen, purple, and blue, like raven feathers. Her parents are ridiculously superstitious and think that, because her hair resembles raven feathers, she's a walking curse or something so she says that her parents think, and I quote, that 'by beating 'bad luck,' they can keep it under control. Even if the 'personification of ill omens' is their own 11-year-old daughter.'"

Leo's eyes had slowly widened 'till they were the size of dinner plates. "She's only eleven?" He whispered it so quietly that he might as well have mouthed it.

I nodded, though it was quite unnecessary. It did seem, however, that Lilliana was merely a short 15-year-old, the way she spoke was so similar to April (then again, she's the only human 15-year-old example we had).

"Wow. No wonder you invited her to stay here."

My smile was small, and more in gratitude than anything, but it was there.

For a second, at least. "Yeah. Thanks for understanding. But I'm worried. You see, I think her parents will be even more mad that she left for a night because, if I'm right, they never saw her leave and her, as she put it, 'ninja qualities' tend to freak them out. They might punish her worse for that. Secondly, she's claustrophobic. And we're making her sleep in a tiny little closet!"  
"She is?" Leo asked, now looking a little nervous.

"Yes. She said it was mild under conditions I can provide, but still..."

Leo glanced at the girl, who had started another game with Mikey, a sympathetic glance. "Donnie, I get that you're worried, but it really can't be helped. We can figure out a way to introduce her to Splinter and keep her safe until then, but tonight, a closet is a good idea. Now maybe we should go over there and suggest a movie or something so those two don't wake up Splinter." He said, flipping a thumb at Mikey and Lily and smiling.

I smiled back. "We probably should. Come'n."

Turns out, Lilliana loved the idea of a movie, and we quickly picked one out. Lilliana, despite the almost-emotionless expression on her face (probably brought on by a lack of stuff to smile about through her life) throughout the whole movie, she was obviously enjoying herself. Her mouth may not have been smiling much, but her eyes were.

After the movie, we said our goodnights to the others and walked to my room.

"I cannot _believe _you spent the entirety of that movie sitting criss-cross!" I exclaimed.

She beamed at me. "Yeah, well..." She said, intentionally acting mysterious, provoking a laugh.

We got to my room, got into our respective sleeping spots, and settled in, Lilliana closing the closet door most of the way.

Lilliana started going through the box of blueprints I had left in there, judging by the light.

Me? I fell asleep almost instantly.

**A/N 15 pages. 15 bloody pages! Jeez! I had more ideas for this chapter, but when I looked at the 'tools' tab and saw 15 pages, I realized, "Huh, maybe this is getting too long." So it'll continue in the next.**

** Which may be slow in coming. This chapter was pieced together little by little, a bit per day. Took a week or so. But now that I have a few more things planned and/or in mind, it should be a bit quicker. Although the end-of-trimester schoolwork won't be helping much... nor the fact I have one friend trying to get me to read the first two Hunger Games books before Friday (midnight private viewing for my school) and another begging me to read City of Bones. :)**

**And I know that, according to spell check, Lilliana only has one l and/or isn't even really a name. I don't care, I'm spelling it with two. ;)**

** Anyway, just a future FYI or so, one, **_**THERE ARE NO PAIRINGS IN THIS FIC. **_**Yes, I will use Donnie's little fails at getting April to notice he likes her, and may use Leo and Karai's (SP?) "flirty taunts," but no actual pairings. **

**Two, while I may base many of my characters off of my and my friends, that doesn't alway extend to experiences. Neither me, know any of my friends, are or have ever been abused (at least I certainly hope not!).**

**Plus, please note that Lilliana accidently became a mix of all four Turtles. I like how it's going. :)**

**Also, who's excited about the return of Casey Jones? *Raises hand and waves it frantically***

**Tell me what you think! Suggestions and/or questions are extremely welcome! =D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Ok, so the way I write is that I accidently come up with multiple scenes, which gives me ideas for the character and other stuff in the process, then circulate the rest of the story around that. That being said, I've had part of this chapter as a partially planned out scene since... well, before I even really started on the beginning. :) Hope you enjoy! =D**

** And clearing this up, again, I haven't seen the 2012 version in a while. I can't remember if the dojo has a bunch of punching bags and stuff or not, but in this there are. Some are hanging, others on stands.**

** There's also some of those spinning wood things with sticks poking out, like in Kung Fu Panda. **

** Disclaimer: Um, last time I checked, I'm updating a story on **_**fan**_** . So, until I actually finish my own original story, get it published, and start putting continuation scenes and alternate endings and etc on here, I don't own any of the fandoms I write about. So mazel tov (Hebrew for 'good luck...' blame language arts, I **_**do **_**read the footnotes...) on getting me sued or something. :) 'Cause it ain't gonna happen. =D**

** Leo's POV**

After the movie, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Donnie had told me about Lilliana. My mind was reeling. **(A/N Much like Donnie ;) )** I had _heard _of people like her, but I never really considered the very real possibility of it happening. It had never completely registered.

That, and I couldn't stop thinking about Lilliana in general. Why April hadn't told us about her, for one thing. And for another, she seemed to be a perfect mix of Donnie and Mikey; something I never really thought possible. I had heard her following Donnie around and listening _and _contributing to his usual techno-babble, yet directly afterwards she was playing video games with Mikey, laughing, whooping and exchanging high-threes.

I'm pretty sure I saw a bit of me in her too, though it was probably the fact she sat in an almost meditative position throughout most of the movie.

Possibly a bit of Raph too...

After a good thirty minutes of trying futilely to stop thinking and just fall asleep, I sighed and got up, tied on my mask, grabbed my katana, and went to the dojo. **(A/N I'm guessing that's what they'd call it. I haven't seen the 2012 version in a while...) **

But when I got there, it wasn't the empty, dark dojo I had expected.

It was dark, all right, but it wasn't empty. I could see a black figure, somehow even darker than the surrounding area, flipping over and around bags silently and effortlessly before there was a sound like the bags were being hit.

I crept into the room and any sounds of a bag being hit stopped abruptly.

The room was completely silent, completely still. I braced myself, ready to fight off some intruder...

...and suddenly found myself being flipped onto my shell, staring into a pair of (oddly bright and reflective, almost _glowing_) mortified grey eyes.

"Leo! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you, my sixth sense wasn't showing a particularly kind emotion, I'm sorry, I swear, that was entirely instinctive, I just panicked, are you ok?" Lilliana babbled apologetically as she pulled me up. That girl may be short, not to mention extremely skinny, but she is strong! Not to mention silent, I hadn't even heard her coming.

_Now I'm _positive _I saw a bit of me in her. _

No sooner was that thought formed that I started laughing. I couldn't help it, somehow the situation was just plain hilarious!

Lilliana started laughing along, hesitantly. "Y-you're not mad? I just flipped you onto your shell in the dark, no warning, and you aren't mad?"

I slowly stopped laughing, but I was still smiling. "Nah. However, if it were Raph you had flipped, I'd be warning you to run. Or better yet, hide. I didn't even hear you after I walked in! Though surprisingly, all the black made you somewhat visible from outside the room. Where'd you learn to flip like that?"

I think she shrugged. At any rate, two lumps of the darker black patch in front of me rose, then fell. But the happiness and relief were obvious in her eyes. "I'd say a mixture of natural talent, quite a few years in tang soo do **(A/N Don't know if we do learn flips, just bear with me. I'm only an orange belt.) **and self-teaching. The silence comes naturally, but the flips and stuff come in handy when trying to escape your parents-" She cut off and I heard a slap. Probably smacking her forehead with her hand again.

Then there was a slight "whoosh" of air, and the black patch in front of me was gone.

I looked around. "Lilliana?"

"Over here!" Her voice came from the doorway, and I spun around. I heard her muttering, "Where is that stupid light switch, we are in a bloody _sewer_, there's gotta be a light switch." And the lights came on.

After blinking a bit to adjust to the light, I walked towards Lilliana and asked, "What are you doing in here, anyway?"

Another shrug. "Couldn't sleep. Arm was bugging me and besides, I've been dying to try out the dojang since I saw it. You know, since I have to leave tomorrow I figured this was my only chance." Her eyes held a confusing mix of excitement, sorrow, anger, bitterness, fear, and a miniscule amount of pain and fatigue. Maybe even a little... hope.

I sighed. I had to tell her I knew, it was one of the things I was thinking over but seeing that 11-year-olds eyes, I knew I had to tell her.

But I decided to attempt beating around the bush. "What happened to your arm?" I asked.

The fear and hope in her eyes increased. "Well I- um, I kind of... tripped and..." She sighed and hung her head. "Fine, you win. You knew, didn't you? It was my parents. I don't know how they got in cuts as deep and long as these were with plastic safety scissors, a brick, and a hairbrush, but they did."

She pulled up her sleeve and showed me a bandage wrapped neatly around her arm, probably courtesy of Donnie.

I'm pretty sure my eyes were back to being the size of dinner plates, though if it was because she straight-out told me about it, the fact that I saw a little reddish-brown through the bandage, or that it was just sinking in even further that her parents were _physically hurting her, _I don't know. It was probably a combination.

I mentally shook myself and noticed that Lilliana was standing with her arms crossed and one leg perched against the wall, like Raph. Of course, why not? Seriously, did this girl have some of our genes injected into her at birth or something? I bet if I look hard enough I'll see some of Master Splinter in her too!

"Y-yeah, I knew. Donnie told me." In response to the tiny flash of hurt through her eyes, I amended it. "Actually, I made him tell me. It felt like something was wrong about this, and I was right, even if it wasn't in the way I thought."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I had a feeling he'd tell eventually. I think he thought I was scared of how you guys would react, which is partially true, but I wasn't scared I'd get kicked out because of it or something. I was scared you'd react like April. Get mad, attempt to march to my parents house and give them a piece of your mind, that sort of thing. It'd be bad enough with April, but you guys would probably get carried off to a lab or something. That and, with this, I prefer to tell people myself. With my Uncle Donnie (odd, huh?), it took a few months, and with April about two weeks. I just need time to think of a way to mention it in the most unawkward way possible. Guess you were too impatient for that, huh?" She smiled at me.

I smiled back. "Yeah, I guess so. Your reasoning makes perfect sense, and I promise I won't tell Raph or Mikey unless they figure it out or it's necessary." _And until we can find a way to let you stay here, I'll be sure to do my best to protect you from your parents. _I added in my head.

Beaming, Lilliana said, "Sounds like a plan!" Then she pretended to spit on her hand and held it in front of her, using the same gesture she had used with the high threes to make it almost look like she had only three fingers.

I beamed back and shook her hand, then she let go and put up her hand, still with the three-fingered thing, so I gave her a high-three.

Suddenly, again without warning, Lilliana flipped over backwards onto a rafter with a quiet whoop.

Perched on the rafter, she looked at me and tilted her head thoughtfully. "Hey, do you think Splinter- I _can_ call him that, right?" I nodded. "Well, do you think Splinter heard me in here?"

I shrugged. "Possibly, but if he did he probably thought it was just me. I come down here and train when I can't sleep."

"Huh." Was her only response before she let herself swing backwards so her feet were hooked around the rafter and left her hanging there upside down, facing me. "I can see that." She finished, fell into a hand-stand, bent her arms, and flipped onto her feet, her hood now off.

I've lost track of how many times I've had to mentally shake myself, not to mention remember to close my mouth, around this girl. She seemed to notice and laughed. "Again, I certainly see the resemblance. Donnie was doing the same thing earlier when he saw me wedged above him on the ceiling, swing down so I was hanging upside down by my feet, fall into a handstand, backbend and stood up. Like this!" And she walked into the hallway, me following, and showed me.

She started silently laughing at me and walked back in the door. "Leo, close your mouth, it's not that great. I've known how to do that sort of thing for years."

I closed my mouth and actually physically shook my head this time. _Why do I keep _doing _that?! _I thought.

I ran after her. "You have? And have you ever thought that, maybe, most humans can't do that?" I asked, thinking she was just kidding about it not being a big deal.

Her head tilted. "They can't?" She asked.

"No! If most people saw that, they'd be standing there with their jaws hanging to the floor!"

"Wow... so _that's _why my parents call me a freak of nature. And why my tang soo do master was so impressed... and why my classmates were jealous of me for it... here I was thinking I was stuck in a class of idiots. I've been doing that sort of thing as long as I can remember, hiding from my parents in the rafters with a book, dropping out the top window when they practically tried to reenact 'Rapunzel' without the prince saving her, keeping myself distracted for a bit when hiding or locked in the closet, etc."

Throughout the conversation, starting from her hanging upside down, Lil's eyes had quickly gone from happiness, humor and playfulness, to sadness and dawning understanding, to overwhelming anger and bitterness.

Let's just say, it was a good thing there was a punching bag on her right.

Because one second it was there, the next minute it was knocked against the other wall.

Which was a good eight feet away.

When Lilliana raised her head, which she had dropped to look down as she punched, **(A/N Like Toph.) **her eyes were back to sad again. "That wasn't normal either, was it?" She asked, not quite meeting my eye. (I'd noticed she only seemed to look directly in one eye, usually the left.)

I shook my head.

"Thought not." She said dejectedly, flopping onto the floor.

"Hey, it's fine." I said, sitting down next to her. "Like I said, most humans can't do that. Just because you're different, doesn't mean that's bad." Lil sighed and looked down. I sighed along with her. "Look, I can only imagine what's going through your head right now, but if I'm right, it's all the negative things you've heard directed at you, specifically from your parents." A nod. "Lil," I swear I heard a gasp, "you can't let the things people have told you get to you, especially not your parents. I've known you for less than a day and I already know you're smart, strong, kind, humorous, good natured, and I suspect that you're caring, brave, strategic, protective of people you care about, know when to be serious, and more; basically everything that makes a good friend. And a good little sister." I added, surprising myself.

Lil looked at me, her eyes shining even more. She didn't need to say anything, the expression that had finally broken out from behind her (metaphorical) mask clearly said, "Really?" She looked like she wanted to believe it, but was too scared to.

I nodded and did something potentially dangerous; I wrapped her in a hug.

Lil's breathing hitched almost imperceptibly a second before I felt her arms try to wrap around my shell.

After a few minutes, or maybe hours, she pulled away, trying to wipe the tears off her face. "T-thanks, Leo. I needed that."

There was a pause, then, "No one's called me Lil since I was maybe four years old."

I hesitated. "Your uncle?"

She nodded, meeting my eye. _Smiling._

Lil's eyes were still flooded with tears, but they were tears of joy, tears of self-worth being discovered.

I smiled gently back at her, then got up and stuck out my hand, helping her up.

She seemed to be gaining back some of her natural somewhat-hyper energy, as she was bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "So, you still wanna train a bit?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure."

So it began. I taught Lil some ninjutsu techniques, she showed me a few tang soo do forms, we sparred a little and lowered the life expectancy of a few punching bags, talking during "breaks."

"So, how'd you and April meet?" I asked, looking at Lil, who was sitting next to me.

She grinned. "Well, it really wasn't that long ago, a month at most. I had escaped from my parents again and had just been running, trying to get away from my house. I eventually climbed a random fire escape and started crying, hoping no one would hear me. But April did, not much of a surprise considering I was right in front of her window. Long story short, we talked, I left, came back the next night, and the next, and the next, and by the end of the second week, I had decided to tell her my 'big secret.'

That's when I realized I had a true friend. When I told her it, and how the cops didn't believe me and my parents made it so no one wanted to come near me, I had to hold her back from marching to my house and giving my parents a piece of her mind, even though she didn't know where I lived. During that, my hood fell off and April saw me clearly for the first time, since I had left my hood on every time in the past. She recognized me from school, had heard all the rumors and, despite all that, did the opposite of what I had expected her to do when she discovered just who she was talking to; she pulled me into a hug."  
Lil just sat there, smiling, before shaking her head minutely and turning to me. "How'd you guys meet her? She was always dropping hints about you guys."

As I was telling her, Lil nodded off. Smiling fondly, I picked her up gently and brought her to Donnie's room.

And as much as I despised doing it, knowing she was claustrophobic, tucked her into Donnie's tiny closet.

I made sure the door was cracked open before I left, then went to my room and fell asleep instantly.

**A/N Well, there you go! Hope you liked it! This is kind of just fluffy filler, a bonding moment between one of the Turtles and their (might as well be) new little sister. I'm surprised it was this long! (Though considering the length of the last one, this is fairly short.)**

** In case you haven't been able to notice, Lil has learned to subconsciously keep her emotions off her face, but as a result they flood into her eyes. I just figure it'd make sense.**

** Plus, I hope you like the way I had Leo's thinking really go from calling her Lilliana to calling her Lil. :) Since Leo's already a big brother, I found it'd be pretty natural for him to take that role in Lil's life without thinking.**

**Thanks so much to Jomagaher for letting me know I categorized this right and even more to RandyCunningham IsTheCheese for reviewing and helping me out (through PM, of course). And of course to ILikeToSneeze for following! (Cool username, by the way. ;) ) Really grateful, guys!**

** Chapter three started, but don't expect it for a while. I make no promises when it comes to updates. Wish I could, but I can't.**

** Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Erg. Does Writers' Block count as an illness? 'Cause I seem to get landed with it pretty often. **

**I'm so sorry! I've been stuck on the beginning of this chapter for-bloody-**_**ever! **_**I knew where I wanted to go... Getting there was the problem. And Christmas Break wasn't long enough. A week? Going back to school on the second? Really? And then I got bronchitis and didn't feel like doing anything for a while and when I did I was working on my Sherlock fics and an idea for a TMNT/A:TLA fic I've had for months... and still don't have finished. **

**At least I was able to spend my supposed-to-be-first-day-back reading Star Trek fanfics and watching the original series, then got two more days off because it was so cold.**

**Anyway, this chapter probably seems a little choppy at the beginning. As aforementioned, I was rather stuck.**

**Thanks to ILikeToSneeze for reviewing! I'm glad that I know at least two people enjoy this!**

**Happy New Year and enjoy the show! :)**

**Disclaimer: Negative, Captain. (Sorry, stuck in Star Trek mode.)**

**Donnie's POV. **

I woke up and looked over to the closet door, pleased to see there wasn't a giant hole in the wall where the door should be, and walked out of my room.

Leo was, unsurprisingly, already up, and we sat at the table for a few minutes in oddly comfortable silence.

A few minutes later, Raph and Mikey came into the room, Mikey looking almost about to fall asleep on the spot.

We all ate and just starting talking about the usual stuff.

Suddenly Lilliana came around the corner, her hair a mess and her clothes rumpled, still yawning and rubbing her right eye with her hoodie sleeve, head down slightly and, quite honestly, looking like a little kid.

"Good morning. How'd you sleep?" I asked.

She smiled sleepily at me. "Ok, I guess. Insomnia didn't help the fact I was in a tiny closet, but it was probably still better than at my parents' house."

"Why's that?" I asked innocently, hoping to catch her off-guard and have her mention her parents abuse without breaking my promise.

"Well, the fact my parents weren't around and- oh, shell." She broke off, pausing for a beat before suddenly sprinting, silently, around the corner and up the stairs to my room.

My brothers and I exchanged looks, Mikey and Raph snickering a bit at her "cuss," while at the same time looking a little suspicious, but it wasn't 3 seconds later that master Splinter came into the kitchen.

"Good morning, my sons." He said. "I trust you slept well?"

"Yes, sensei." We said in unison.

I looked at Mikey, and he looked about ready to explode. I gave him a warning glare and he calmed down. None of us wanted to get our new friend in trouble- and none of _us _wanted to get in trouble.

The day was relatively normal from there. Splinter announced training, we all groaned, got up, went to the dojo on time, and started training. Mikey was hit into the tree by Raph a few times, we kicked each others shells (some getting more kicked than others...), got our usual lecture, and then free time. Splinter went off to meditate, and we turtles went back to the section of the lair with the TVs and stuff.

Mikey looked around for a second with a confused expression.

"Hey, where's Li- Yeep!"

Lilliana grinned at us from her current- and sudden- upside down position, playing with another piece of her grey, silky cloth. "Hey guys! Great job on the training today!"

Raph was sort of staring. "Um... you saw-?"

"What, did you expect me to stay in that closet all day? And fat chance having me go topside right now. April is out of town and I'd be bored to tears!"

"Understandable." Raph chuckled.

Lilliana smiled again and flipped down, resulting in Raph and Mikey staring. Leo didn't, though. I guess he saw her doing it already.

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Lilliana asked, "So, whatcha wanna do?"

I shrugged, and asked, "What'd you think of those blueprints last night?"

Lilliana's eyes lit up and she launched with what I'm sure my brothers would call "technobabble."

So while we exchanged ideas, Raph picked up a comic book and Mikey and Leo started playing a racing game.

At one point, I glanced up at the clock and mentally sighed. Patrol time, which would mean we would have to bring Lilliana back home.

_Please don't let Leo notice, please don't let Leo notice..._

"Patrol time, guys!"  
_Shell._

I plastered on a grin and turned to Lilliana. "Hey, Lily, I think you have to go home now. But you can help with patrol on the way."

Her smile became forced to. "Sounds great!"

I leaned in and whispered, "If I know Leo, he'll be adding your house to the patrol route. If anything bad happens, we'll bring you back down here as soon as we notice."

I'm pretty sure her grin was a bit more genuine after that.

**Leo's POV.**

Great, patrol. I normally don't mind our time topside, but the fact that it was currently winter, which meant freezing air, snow, slush, and ice, mixed with the fact that we had to bring Lil back to her house, with the knowledge that she was being abused, was torture.

But I already had plans to add her house to our usual patrol route and to make a rendezvous point and time, or simply a place to put hidden messages, so we could help Lil out if she needed it.

I had a bad feeling she would need it.

So before we took off, I pulled her over. "Listen, Lil, when we get to your house, show me a good place for secret notes, just in case you need help. Ok?"

She nodded, her odd grey eyes filled to overflowing with gratitude. "Thanks, Leo. Oh, and before we split, I may tell Raph and Mikey, just so you all know. If I don't, you have my permission to tell them after I'm gone; you and Donnie."

"Got it."

And we set off.

Lil seemed to be having a great time with the patrol, and her hesitancy of jumping over the gaps between the buildings disappeared quickly.

We only got into one quick fight with some Purple Dragons, and I'm almost positive I saw Lil talking to a girl a little older than her before we took off again.

The two of us also had a little fun watching the others reactions to how well she could fight.

I swear the ground in front of us was lit up more by her smile than the streetlights.

All too soon, though, we got to her house. It was fairly large; two floors, dark blue siding, perfect lawn and hedges, a few trees, and you could just tell that there were some well-respected people living there.

Unfortunately, three within our group knew they weren't deserving of it.

Lil took a deep breath and gestured to her house. "Well, there it is. Thanks for everything, guys. Hope we can hang out again."

Mikey ran up and hugged her, and she giggled. She went up to Raph, who hesitantly held out his arms and gave the smallest smile. Lil smiled back and hugged him lightly, then turned to Donnie and hugged him.

After they pulled apart, Donnie said, "Be careful tomorrow, it's supposed to be record freezing temperatures for this year."

Lil smiled at him. "You guys be careful too. You, unlike I, are cold-blooded. Wouldn't want you falling asleep on a patrol."

"Hey!" Mikey exclaimed jokingly.

Lil laughed and, finally, turned to me and winked. Giving me a hug, she whispered, "Far side of the house from here, there's a pile of boulders. We can hide notes in there."

She pulled away and smiled, the wind dramatically blowing her hair around.

"See ya, t'hy'las." She said.

Then she jumped onto a sturdy branch from the oak tree by us, climbed down to one by a window on the upper floor, turned back while crouched on it, and waved at us just before she opened the window and hopped in.

I turned to Donnie. "T'hy'las?

Donnie grinned. "She's a fellow Trekkie. T'hy'la is Vulcan for 'friend' or 'brother.'"

My face broke into a similar grin, as did Mikey's and Raph's, though they didn't know just how special having that title from Lil was.

We finished our patrol and went home.

As Raph went back to his comics and Mikey to his video games, I pulled Donnie aside.

"I have a bad feeling." I said.

Donnie nodded. "So do I, but it's probably nothing. What we really have to focus on is to find a way to get Lilliana to be able to stay here... but how do we tell Splinter?"

"We'll think of something. In the mean time, we have to tell Mikey and Raph the whole thing."

"But Lily said-"

"She told me before we started our patrol that she would probably tell them before leaving, and, if not, for us to tell them back here. I don't know about you, but that's what I'm going to do."

Donnie sighed. "I suppose you're right. Wanna get it over with now?"

"Probably should."

"Then let's do it."

We headed over to Mikey and Raph, but then Donnie stopped and asked, "She didn't say right away, did she?"

I shook my head and replied, "Maybe we should... do it later?"

We nodded in unison and turned back around.

**Mikey's POV.**

"Whoo-hoo, high score!" I yelled, pumping my fist. Raph glanced up at me, but then went back to his comic.

_Too bad LHN isn't here... _I thought. I hated having to say goodbye to my new friend, but at least this one wasn't evil, and at least I could see her again.

And at least I could give her a good nickname. LH-Ninja... I just sort of figured, her initials are LH, and she could definitely remind a person of a ninja with all the black and the fighting and the silence and stuff. I just shortened it to LHN.

I turned around and saw Leo and Donnie talking out of earshot, then started walking over to us.

They seemed nervous.

And then Donnie whispered something to Leo, he shook his head, replied, they nodded and then turned back around.

_What're they hiding?_

I knew, through experience, that I couldn't get it out of them unless they were willing to tell; at least, not through my methods. Donnie is all patience, and Leo is nothing if not loyal, so while this would give me a good excuse (though I doubt they'd see it as one) to bother them, I uncharacteristically decided to leave them alone.

And if they looked _that _nervous to tell us something, I'm not sure I'd _want _to know what it is anyway.

The evening from there carried on as usual, and the next night, the four of us set out on patrol.

We followed the same path as yesterday, heading towards LHN's house, when I noticed that Leo seemed a little jumpy- and had been all day.

I ran up to him. "Hey bro, what's up? You've been acting weird all day."

He didn't seem to hear me, but instead picked up his pace as LHN's house came into view.

When we got there, Leo dashed to the far side of the house after flashing his hand at us, telling us to stay put, which was hard for me to do. Donnie seemed perfectly content to stay there, though he too seemed a little nervous, and Raph rolled his eyes.

Less than a minute later, Leo was back, wide-eyed and almost frantic. While Raph and I were completely lost, Donnie seemed to know exactly what was going on and ran to where Leo had just come from, Leo right on his shell.

Raph and I shrugged at each other and followed.

What we saw wasn't at all expected.

There were three strips of dark, silky grey cloth- the same kind LHN seemed to always have in her pocket- formed in an arrow pointing away from the way we had come, and the snow around it had little drops of blood scattered around it; not a lot, but still. And aside from that, the footsteps leading away from the arrow had a line as though one foot was dragging, like the person was limping. It looked like it had happened at least half an hour before, maybe- probably- a little more.

Donnie took one glance and ran off in the way the prints were leading, and Leo followed without hesitation. Raph followed soon after, and I took so long to snap out of it that, if the situation weren't so tense, I would've yelled, "Hey guys, wait up!"

We didn't have to go very far, were running for maybe five minutes, before we found a small, shivering form huddled up in only a hoodie on the curb.

As we approached, she looked up, and those unforgettable, nearly glowing, light grey eyes shone against her too-pale skin and pierced through me again.

LHN smiled faintly. "H-h-hey g-guys." She said, her teeth chattering.

"Lil, how long have you been out here?" Leo asked. She shrugged.

"N-n-no id-dea. I t-tri-ied to g-get t-to the l-l-lair, b-but I s-still can't l-lift t-the manh-hole cov-ver."

"Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be at home?" I asked.

LHN stared at me before turning her head to Leo and Donnie.

"You d-didn't t-tell them, d-d-did you." She stated.

Donnie whistled, and Leo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well..."

LHN closed her eyes. It looked like it was in annoyance, but when her breathing started to slow down, as well as her shivering, we all panicked a little.

"Lily? Lily, stay awake." Donnie told her.

"Hmm? Oh, s-sorry, guys. Just a li-little tired."

Donnie looked up at us, his eyes filled with worry. "Hypothermia." He said. "Still in the relatively minor zone, but hypothermia nonetheless."

I stared. All I knew about hypothermia was that it was something bad that happened when you got too cold.

"But, wait..." Leo added. "She can't have been out that long, not long enough to get hypothermia, at least. Something's fishy, here."

Donnie nodded. "Lily, did... someone do something to you that could've sped up the hypothermic process?"

LHN nodded and mumbled something.

"What?"

She looked up, her eyelids starting to droop over her eyes, and whispered, "My p-parents sh-hoved me in th-the f-freezer, and even the m-minor b-blood loss-s couldn't h-have helped." Her voice was becoming slightly slurred.

I started diminishing my list of questions; but certainly not all of them."Woah, woah, wait. Why would her parents have locked her in the freezer and why is she still out here? And what blood loss?"

Leo and Donnie looked at each other, then back to LHN, who gave them a tiny nod, and then turned to Raph and I.

"Raph, Mikey... Lil's parents abuse her."

**A/N Whoo! Finally got that done!**

**Anyway, is that a cliffie? I don't know.**

**Sorry again for the long wait! I was thoroughly stuck on the beginning.**

**Oh, that brief little mention of Lilliana talking to a girl a little older than her during a fight? Another scene I've had somewhat planned since before the beginning. I'll be posting it as a spin-off oneshot to this, x-over with Percy Jackson; hopefully soon, but I have other stuff to do, so I make no promises.**

**Hope you liked the chapter, and I'll start on the next one as soon as possible! Though I wouldn't turn down some suggestions...**

**Back to Young Justice! (Only finished this because the video was buffering... don't kill me!)**

**Peace, pickles! ;)**


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